LA Rebels improve with playing time

It was a busy week for Leake Academy baseball as the Rebels got six games under their belts during spring holidays.

The Rebels won three games, lost two and tied one because of a tournament time limit. Leake Academy entered the week with a 5-7-1 record.

"We showed improvement as the week went along," coach Josh Ray said. "Our pitching has been good and we have been playing defense. But we haven't been swinging the bats like we need to, and we started doing that, especially in the last two games."

The Rebels started the week by playing four games in the Manchester tournament. After a wet start of the week, Leake Academy lost to Manchester 3-2 and Benton 7-2. They then tied Pillow Academy 8-8 in a game that was stopped because of the time limit. Then the Rebels defeated Central Hinds 3-2.

The Rebels then traveled to Winona Academy where they defeated Central Holmes 11-1 and Humphreys Academy 6-2.

The Rebels have a busy schedule this week, highlighted by two games with Winston Academy. They were to host Winona on Monday and visit Winston on Tuesday. They host Winston on Thursday and visit Simpson on Friday.

In recapping last week, the Rebels started off with a loss to Manchester. The Mavricks scored one in the first, one in the third and one in the fourth. The Rebels answered with one in the second and one in the fifth.

The Rebels finished with seven hits, paced by Will Myers' double. But they left eight runners on base. Graham Scott took the pitching loss. He had three strikeouts.

The Rebels fell behind early in their game with Benton Academy, which scored five in the first and two in the second. Leake Academy answered with one in the first and one in the second.

The Rebels finished with three hits, led by Hunter Brown's home run. Reed Mayfield took the loss.

The Rebels then battled Pillow Academy to an 8-8 tie that was stopped by the time limit. Drew McMillian finished with two doubles while Mayfield and Alex Shepard both hit a double.

Leake Academy then defeated Central Hinds 3-2. All of the runs in the game were scored in the seventh inning. Will Myers recorded 10 strike outs to claim the pitching victory. Shepard hit a double and a single, and Chipper Jones hit a double.

The Rebel bats really started swinging in their win over Central Holmes. Leake Academy scored three in the first, seven in the second and one in the third. Thomas Nazary hit two singles while Shepard, Brown, Mayfield, Chipper Jones and Joshua Jones all added one hit. Mayfield was the winning pitcher.

The Rebels scored two in the first and four in the fourth to slip past Humphreys County. Chan Allen was the winning pitcher. Mayfield hit a double and a single for the Rebels while Myers added a double.